New Ipsos Poll Reveals 26% of Canadians May Soon Need Charitable Services to Meet Basic Needs

According to the Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of CanadaHelps, most Canadians (74%) are concerned about inflation and 17% plan to give less to charities in 2022, citing the effects of inflation on their finances. The number of Canadians that rely on charitable services in 2022 to meet their basic needs because of the pandemic or inflation could balloon from 11% today to one in four (26%).

Ipsos Poll Findings on Charitable Giving:

25% of Canadians plan to give less to charities in 2022 compared to 2021, including more than one in ten (12%) who indicate that they will be donating less because they are specifically concerned about the effects of the pandemic on their finances.

By comparison, just 15% plan to give more to charities in 2022 than they did in 2021. Of those planning to give more, 6% note their decision is influenced by the impact of inflation.

Most Canadians Are Concerned About Inflation

With inflation reaching its highest level in 30 years, reaching 5.1% in January 2022,* it is having a profound effect on Canadians. The vast majority (82%) of Canadians expect their financial situation to be negatively impacted in some way. A sizeable proportion (15%) of Canadians say they won’t be able to afford necessities such as groceries, medicine, and gas, and 29% would need to cut back on these essentials if the inflation rate continues to rise. A majority (52%) would need to reduce spending on non-essentials such as travel, entertainment, and eating out; while 33% would need to reduce the amount they save, and 15% would have to start using their savings to cover basic expenses. Around one in five (19%) would have to reduce debt repayments.

“The charitable sector is at a critical inflection point as rising inflation rates and pandemic challenges collide. Inflation is straining the most vulnerable communities in Canada, which also drives further demand for charitable services,” says Marina Glogovac, President and CEO of CanadaHelps. “These findings reveal inflation concerns will likely impact charitable giving when it is needed most.”

Rising inflation rates emerged as an issue during the latter part of 2021, and the Ipsos poll offers evidence of a concerning trend. The poll reveals that 23% of respondents reported that they donated less to charities in 2021, with one in ten citing high inflation (10%) or the pandemic (10%) as factors that limited their ability to donate.

While online giving grew by 86% in 2020, overall giving in Canada is projected to have declined by -10% in 2020 according to the 2021 Giving Report published by CanadaHelps. In 2021, $465 million was raised online on CanadaHelps.org, a decrease of -2% from the year prior which indicates a softening of online growth. There were, however, several methods of giving on the rise using CanadaHelps in 2021, which include donations raised through monthly giving (increasing by 21%), while donations of securities – including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds – generated 91% more in dollars raised than the previous year.

“The growth in monthly donations and securities seen in 2021 indicates that those who are in the position to give are turning to more strategic ways to donate,” says Glogovac. “Times of crisis often drive the greatest change, so we are hopeful that Canadian donors who are in a position to help fill gaps in lost funding will continue supporting communities in need.”

Source data from the Ipsos poll are available for download here.

Poll Methodology

For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ were interviewed between January 28 and 31, 2022. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

About CanadaHelps

CanadaHelps is a public foundation advancing philanthropy through technology. For Canadians, it powers CanadaHelps.org, a safe and trusted destination for discovering and supporting any charity in Canada, and UniteforChange.com, where Canadians can learn about causes and easily support the collective work of charities addressing a cause they care about. CanadaHelps also develops affordable fundraising technology used by more than 25,000 charities, and free training and education so that, regardless of size, all charities have the capacity to increase their impact and succeed in the digital age. Since 2000, over 3.4 million people have given more than $2.1 billion through CanadaHelps. Connect with CanadaHelps on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.